Chapter 298: Chapter 297: Turning the Tables

Liu Family Village Hall.

Qin Yao: “Let’s build a road.”

The village chief and clan leader were completely shocked.

“How… how did we decide to build a road?” the clan leader asked curiously.

The village chief was also confused, “Everyone in the village is working at the stationery factory now, how can we build it?”

Only these old bones are left, with strength to spare, but far less than the young people.

Moreover, that’s not the point. The main point is, why did Qin Yao suddenly start talking about road construction out of the blue?

Qin Yao then recounted the incident with Hua’er and her father, “Given the situation, they’re hiding in our North Mountain area, and they will eventually come out. Instead of being passive, we should take the initiative.”

Hua’er and her father appeared harmless, but the same could not be said for their fellow villagers.

If Hua’er hadn’t accidentally revealed, Qin Yao wouldn’t have known about the many refugees on North Mountain.

They’re looking for work, but if they see unsupervised children or homes with open doors in the village, they could easily have bad intentions.

Qin Yao would prefer to judge these people with the worst suspicions rather than regret it when the time comes.

The village chief and clan leader hadn’t known about the refugees on North Mountain, not just one or two, but a group from the same area.

Upon hearing this, the two elders felt a chill in their hearts.

Thinking this way, Qin Yao’s proposal to build a road seemed like a good way to mitigate the risks.

By designating an activity area for them and having them help build the road, providing two meals a day, the refugees would be settled, and the village would have a well-built road, a win-win situation.

Of course, we could gather the young and strong from the village right now and drive them all off of North Mountain, but once conflict arises, the subsequent situation would be unpredictable.

Moreover, Hua’er and her father haven’t done anything terrible yet. The village chief and clan leader exchanged a glance, recalling their difficult and helpless times during natural disasters, and couldn’t help but sigh with pity.

“They’re all unfortunate people. Since our village coincidentally needs labor for road construction, let them come,” the village chief relented.

The clan leader didn’t insist either, asking Qin Yao if there was a plan.

They still didn’t know how many people were there. Few people would need less space, while more people would require more arrangements.

Luckily, it’s summer now, and although the houses are airy, they won’t be uncomfortable. The clan still has a few abandoned clay houses that can be tidied up and barely serve as shelter.

According to Qin Yao, these refugees would leave before winter, which means they’ll stay for three months.

From Lower River Village to Liu Family Village, the road originally had a foundation, and three months of work should be enough.

Qin Yao was spontaneously inspired, without any plans.

However, it’s still timely to discuss now.

“What about those refugees by the riverside?” the village chief was a bit worried.

Qin Yao waved her hand, “No worries, let them wait a bit longer. We’ll sort things out on our end first.”

With that, the village chief and clan leader immediately sent two agile young men to call everyone over to announce the plan for employing refugees to build the road.

Half an hour later, every family sent representatives over to gather in the village hall, including men, women, young and old.

The clan will cover the majority of the road construction costs, and the stationery factory had just paid five taels for a year’s rent. Providing two meals a day was still feasible.

Qin Yao also expressed that the factory’s vehicles would use the road most frequently in the future. If there’s any shortage of silver coins, the factory can cover it.

The factory will handle half of the road maintenance.

Seeing the villagers’ unanimous approval of Qin Yao, Liu Dafu couldn’t resist stepping up and immediately said:

“Our three ancestral homes are vacant. Let them tidy up and stay there. It’s better than those clay houses without roofs.”

The clan leader gave him a thumbs-up, praising: “Da Fu is truly noble, having produced a scholar in the family makes a difference. Everyone should learn from him!”

After praising Liu Dafu, the clan leader also criticized people like Liu Facai.

Always scheming this and that, small-minded, doing nothing legitimate, only thinking about petty benefits.

Liu Facai instinctively glanced at Qin Yao, feeling the clan leader’s words were subtly referring to his request to reopen literacy classes at Qin Yao’s house.

Everyone in the village thinks the same way, and he was the one who spoke up for them. Yet, he was blamed for trying to take advantage. His face turned green with frustration.

Qin Yao simply chuckled without saying a word.

Thus, the villagers had no objections, and the road construction proposal was unanimously approved.

Next was discussing the refugees’ living arrangements, the responsible manager, road construction details, and other specifics.

The elders had ample experience, supplementing each other, while Qin Yao was responsible for recording, and everyone discussed until evening.

At the foot of North Mountain, by the small river.

Twenty-three people gathered here, anxiously glancing frequently towards the nearby village.

Among them were sixteen young men, four women dressed as married, and three older children, two boys around thirteen or fourteen, one girl around ten, which was Hua’er.

“Hua’er, didn’t you say a kind-hearted lady would come? Where is she? We’ve been waiting from noon till afternoon, the sun’s about to set, yet there’s no sign of her. Hope you weren’t fooled,”

the oldest woman in the group quietly inquired.

They were organized in family units, some were couples, some were brothers, also a father-son and father-daughter pair.

The ones who stayed, letting the family return home first, were people with skills, more flexible thinkers.

Even though everyone’s been waiting all afternoon, none of them blamed Hua’er and her father. But with the sky darkening, they’re worried they were deceived.

Moreover, their stomachs are growling, having finished all their wild fruit from the mountain.

They could have searched for food in the mountain, but now they’re just standing by the river waiting, without dinner plans.

Facing the villagers’ doubt, Hua’er felt panicked, awkwardly explaining, “That lady told us to wait here for her.”

The mute father patted his daughter’s head, signaling her not to worry, and confidently gestured to the others: Wait a bit longer, she will definitely come!

They nodded, continuing to wait, believing that if work was available, the wait was worth it.

With growling stomachs, the three older boys gathered some branches and invited Hua’er to catch fish by the river.

Four children engaged in a battle of wits with the cunning fishes in the water as the sunset unknowingly descended, and darkness fell, suddenly enveloping the sky.

By this point, the villagers near the mute father almost lost hope and were about to leave in disappointment when the boys suddenly shouted excitedly, “Look! There’s a firelight!”

Hua’er dashed from the river’s edge to the village’s ridge, shouting loudly, “Lady! Is that you, lady!”

The footsteps grew closer, Qin Yao holding a torch in the lead, followed by Ah Wang, Liu Zhong, Liu Qi, and other young villagers.

The reason they came so late was to wait for the factory workers. Qin Yao didn’t know exactly how many people there were. Meeting for the first time naturally required some strong villagers to be present.

Seeing Qin Yao’s smiling face illuminated by the firelight, Hua’er and her father’s anxious hearts finally settled.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep